Spend 6 minutes of your lunch hour with NIU quarterback Jordan Lynch and Matt Lipman as the two talk Northern Illinois football. The 23rd ranked Huskies open Mid-American Conference play this Saturday at Kent State. Kickoff is set for 2:30pm CT.

In an effort to spice things up, this week's edition of Lunch With Lynch will feature a series of Jordan Lynch highlights with quotes from opposing coaches and statistical rankings as of the September 22nd NCAA report.

In two seasons as a starter, led NIU to a 24-4 record with three wins over BCS teams. Leaves NIU with three single game, 16 single season and six career records. Set five NCAA FBS records for quarterback rushing. Accounted for 100 total touchdowns (51 passing, 48 rushing, 1 receiving) and averaged 7.1 yards per play for his career. Threw at least one touchdown pass in 26 of last 27 games. Ranks second on the NIU career total offense list, is the Huskies' No. 3 all-time rusher and is in the Top 10 in 24 career categories.2013: A finalist for the Heisman Trophy who placed third in the final vote to record the best finish in history by a player from the Mid-American Conference. The previous best finish for a MAC player was by Randy Moss, who was fourth in 1997. Received 558 votes, and was first on 40 ballots. Selected as one of five finalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award. Finalist for the AT&T All-America Player of the Year honor. First team All-American at the all-purpose position by the Associated Press, Phil Steele and Lindy's. Earned second-team All-America honors from USA Today and CBSSports.com and was honorable mention by SI.com. Won the Vern Smith Leadership Award, presented to the MAC's top player as voted by league coaches, for the second consecutive season. Also named the league's Offensive Player of the Year for the second time and was the first team All-MAC quarterback. Top five finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and the 2013 Senior CLASS Award, which recognized seniors who excel in citizenship, leadership and the classroom as well as on the field. One of 10 finalists for the Manning Quarterback Award. Was a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award. Scored two rushing touchdowns and passed for one while compiling 345 yards of total offense versus Bowling Green in the MAC Championship game. Selected as the West Division MVP with 126 rushing and 219 passing yards to notch his 12th career 100-yard rushing/200-yard passing game. Threw a touchdown pass in 13 of 14 games (all but Toledo) and had a rushing and passing TD in 10 contests. Totaled over 300 yards of total offense in 11 games. Accounted for 343.7 yards of offense per game and was responsible for 48 touchdowns, including one receiving. Led all active players with 4,343 career rushing yards and first in 100-yard rushing games with 22. Averaged 137.1 rushing yards per game and his 1,920 rushing yards ranked second in the country and broke his own NCAA record for QB rushing. Set the school record for pass completions in a season with 253 and for points, touchdows, rushing TDs and touchdowns responsible for. Named MAC West Offensive Player of the Week for a record eighth time and was a Manning Award Star of the Week after breaking the NCAA and NIU record for most rushing yards in a game by an FBS quarterback with 321 vs. Western Michigan. Previous record was 316 set by Lynch at Central Michigan. Also earned MAC POTW honors after completing 17-of-22 passes for 202 yards and running for 161 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries at Toledo. Led NIU on a 99-yard fourth-quarter scoring drive to clinch the 35-17 win and MAC West title. In win over Ball State, compiled 468 yards of total offense with a season-high 345 passing and 123 rushing yards. Completed a career-best 81.3 percent of his passes with a career-high 26 completions on 32 attempts. His 26 completions tied for seventh-best all-time and 345 passing yards ranked eighth. Won MAC West Offensive Player of the Week honors with five TDs and 279 yards in just over a half at UMass. Scored a career-high four rushing TDs, gained 119 rushing yards completed 10-of-13 passes with a season-long 66-yarder. Completed 16-of-20 passes for 223 yards and four TDs in just over a half versus Eastern Michigan. Named a Manning Award Star of the Week, a Capital One Cup Impact Performer and to the Davey O'Brien Quarterback Award Honor Roll. Became second player in last 10 years to catch a touchdown pass, run for a score and throw four touchdown passes in the same game. First player to run for 300 yards and pass for 100 in a game. Rushed for 316 yards at CMU, averaging 9.9 yards per carry and added 155 yards on 20-of-30 passing. Earned multiple awards, including Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week, CBSSports.com Co-Offensive Player of the Week, honorable mention Davey O'Brien Quarterback of the Week and Manning Award Star of the Week. Earned MAC West Offensive Player of the Week, a "helmet sticker" from ESPN and was named a Capital One Cup Impact Performer. Named MAC Player of the Week after hitting 18-of-25 passes for 207 yards and three touchdowns at Purdue. Completed 14 of his first 15 throws and 11 straight. Ran for 189 yards on 23 carries and threw for 235 yards on 21-of-30 passing vs. Eastern Illinois. Accounted for five touchdowns and 311 yards of offense with 159 rushing and 152 passing at Idaho. Earned MAC West Offensive Player of the Week honors at Iowa with 275 yards passing and hit all five of his passes on game-tying drive in the fourth quarter, including a 33-yard TD strike to Da'Ron Brown.

2012: In first year as a starter, broke four NCAA, two MAC and 14 NIU records en route to earning All-America honors as an all-purpose player from the Associated Press and Phil Steele's Magazine and as a quarterback from CBSSports.com and SI.com. Led Northern Illinois to a 12-2 record, including a 12-game winning streak, and the first Bowl Championship Series (BCS) berth ever earned by a Mid-American Conference team. Finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting with 52 points. Won the Vern Smith Leadership Award as MAC MVP, as voted by league coaches, and was named the league's Offensive Player of the Year. Consensus first team All-MAC selection. Ranked second in the nation in total offense yards (4,953) and fourth in rushing yards (1,815). Became the first player in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) history to run for more than 1,500 yards and pass for more than 3,000 (3,138) in a season. Set NCAA FBS records for rushing yards (1,815) and 100-yard rushing games (12) by a quarterback. Led the nation in 100-yard rushing games, three more than any other player in the country, and had a school-record 11 consecutive 100-yard days. Averaged 353.8 yards of total offense per game to rank fourth in the country, and tied for third in points responsible for with 264. Averaged 7.25 yards per play and was responsible for more than 70 percent of NIU's offense in 2012. His rushing average of 129.6 yards/game ranked seventh in the country and was third-highest ever by a Northern Illinois quarterback. Responsible for more plays of total offense (rushing plus passing) than any player in the country with 688. Led the MAC in 10 offensive categories, including rushing yards, rushing average and passing efficiency. Set nearly every Northern Illinois single season total offense record. Had at least 340 yards of total offense in 10 games, and surpassed 400 yards three times. Responsible for 44 touchdowns with 25 passing and 19 rushing to set the NIU record and rank third in the league all-time. Threw at least one touchdown pass in each of NIU's last 13 games. Surpassed 150 yards rushing and 150 yards passing in four games (Toledo, UMass, Ball State, Kent State) to lead the country; no other player had more than two 150/150 games. Had 37 pass plays and 13 rushing plays of 25 yards or longer, including runs of 73, 88, 49, 71 and 57 yards. Named West Division MVP of NIU's MAC Championship game overtime victory over Kent State with 160 rushing yards on a school single-season record 36 carries with three touchdowns. Tallied 372 yards (212 passing/160 rushing) of offense and four touchdowns against the Golden Flashes to lead the Huskies to the MAC title. Scored on a two-yard touchdown run in the second overtime to provide the winning margin. Set the NIU record for total offense in a single game with 569 yards, which ranked as the seventh-highest FBS total in 2012, in a 31-24 win over Toledo (11-14). Threw for 407 yards and ran for 162 against the Rockets, becoming the first quarterback in NCAA FBS history to pass for 400 yards and run for 150 in the same game. Threw a career-long 73-yard touchdown pass to Martel Moore in the third quarter to spur the comeback victory. Joined the select 300/150 club for passing/rushing yards (respectively), with 342 passing yards and 125 rushing yards Sept. 15 at Army in a 41-40 win. Responsible for at least two touchdowns in 12 of 14 games in 2012. Posted at least one run of 22 yards or longer in every game. Rushed for a season-high 207 yards on 29 carries with three touchdowns at Ball State (10-6), and added 195 passing yards. Accounted for 410 yards (274 passing and 136 rushing) of total offense and was responsible for a career-high six touchdowns in a 48-34 win at Western Michigan (10-27). Passed for 200 yards or more in eight games. Posted a 60 percent or better completion percentage in all but three games in 2012. Completed a season-best 78.9 percent of his passes against UMass (11-3), going 15-of-19 for 191 yards and two touchdowns in just over one half of football. Ran for 118 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown versus Iowa in his first career start. Put an Akron defender on his back on a 14-yard touchdown run during a four-touchdown day at Akron. Had a touchdowns to interception ratio of 4.2:1 with 25 touchdown passes and six interceptions on the year. Booted a 63-yard "pooch" punt on fourth down versus Toledo and made a TD-saving tackle after an interception. Landed a 52-yard punt at the FSU five-yard line in the Orange Bowl. Averaged 57.5 yards on two punts on the season.

2011: The Huskies' back-up quarterback saw action in 13 games as he spelled starter Chandler Harnish throughout the season. Finished fourth on the team in rushing with 246 yards on 45 carries to average 5.5 yards per rush. Scored three rushing touchdowns and had a long rush of 66 yards in the Western Michigan (10-15) game. Completed 15-of-20 passes for 166 yards and one touchdown on the year. Third on the team in total offense with 412 yards. Had at least one rush in every game he played and threw passes in six contests. Completed all four of his passes for 64 yards, including a career-long 41-yard completion, against Arkansas State (1-8). With Harnish injured, led NIU to the go-ahead touchdown, scoring on a three-yard dive in the bowl victory over the Red Wolves. Got his first passing touchdown of the season on a 37-yard strike to Willie Clark at Bowling Green (11-8). Rushed for 32 yards on six carries in the game. Attempted a career-high five passes against Army (9-3); completed three for 25 yards. Set season highs in carries (10) and yards (113) versus Western Michigan. Carried the ball eight times for 46 yards and a touchdown against Kent State (10-8).

2010: Served as NIU's back-up quarterback behind Chandler Harnish and saw action in nine games. Often inserted at quarterback during drives for a play or two. Played in every MAC regular season game and in the league championship game in Detroit. Averaged 40.2 rushing yards a game with 362 yards on 31 carries to rank fourth on the team. Scored three rushing TDs and threw for one. His 11.7 yards per carry average led NIU and he recorded the longest run by any Huskie player on the season with a 90-yard touchdown jaunt versus Buffalo (10-16). The 90-yard rush was also the longest carry by a Huskie since 1993, the longest ever by an NIU quarterback and the fourth-longest in school history. Completed four-of-six passes for 13 yards on the year. Made his first career appearance at Akron (10-2) where he ran for one yard and completed one pass (in two attempts) for 11 yards. Earned NIU's Co-Big Hit of the Week after rushing for 43 yards on nine carries against Toledo (11-9). Rushed for 18 yards on three carries at Ball State (11-20) while hitting both of his pass attempts, one for a four-yard touchdown to Kyle Skarb. Totaled a career-best 142 yards on just two carries with both going for touchdowns at Eastern Michigan (11-26). Scored on an 81-yard run to record the ninth-longest carry in school history, and on a 61-yard run. Earned 26 yards on five carries against Miami (Ohio) with a long run of 11 yards in the 2010 MAC Championship game (12-3). Totaled 395 yards of total offense on 37 plays to rank fourth on the team.

2009: Redshirted

High School: Team captain of USA Football's 2009 gold medal winning Junior National Team. Played safety and made seven tackles and recovered one fumble in three games. Named to the Chicago Sun-Times All-Area first team and the Chicago Tribune All-State honorable mention team. Lawless Award recipient, which honors the top senior in the Chicago Catholic League. Team captain was named the Northwest Indiana Times Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for 1,221 yards on 75-of-125 passingwith 16 touchdowns and rushing for 848 yards on 141 carries (a 6.0 average) with 15 touchdowns. Earned all-conference honors twice while leading his team to two Class 8A semifinal appearances. Threw for 1,120 passing yards on 69-of-135 attempts. Totaled 486 rushing yards on 94 carries as a junior. Scored 24 total touchdowns (15 passing, nine rushing) while helping his team to a 12-1 record in 2007. Also earned all-conference and all-area honors that year.